


business of misery

by g0ldendays



Category: Formula 2 RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26102011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g0ldendays/pseuds/g0ldendays
Summary: None of them are used to public transport. Taking the train to Circuit Zandvoort goes as well as can be expected.
Kudos: 25





	business of misery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eliotthawke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotthawke/gifts).



> The working summary for this was 'FDA kids vs. Dutch public transport'. While I doubt they'd actually send the kids by train, the visual image of it was too strong to resist lmao. This takes place in some alternate universe where they're all going to Zandvoort while in F2, and since I'm presuming not all of these kids will remain in F2 next year I'm calling this an AU. 
> 
> For legal reasons, I'm Dutch and it's pretty much Dutch culture to shit on public transport. As for the mentions of Italian public transport, I'm going off of what I learned while in Florence in 2017 and 2018, so apologies if that's not entirely accurate.

Callum's not really a fan of public transport, he has to admit. It's crowded and claustrophobic and warm and he doesn't like it. And for some reason, that's why he's now waiting for a train at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. "Yellow," Marcus says disdainfully next to him, studying the train on another platform. "Terrible color." Callum glances over to Guanyu, a couple of people down the platform, but he's got headphones on and doesn't hear Marcus' comment. He has to agree with Marcus, however. Yellow and blue? It's Virtuosi colors but on a train, and it's not a good look.

"Remind me again why we couldn't take the car?" Callum asks and Giuliano sighs.

"For the tenth time, Callum, it's a pain to drive to Zandvoort. Parking is a disaster and we won't be able to use cars around the city anyway because it'll be so busy." Giuliano recites all the reasons they were sent via email why they'd have to take a train to Zandvoort from the airport, instead of the usual drive to the track. At least someone reads their email. 

"Why does a city with a track not have a proper road?" Callum complains and Marcus nods in agreement. 

Giuliano shrugs. "No clue, I'm not in charge of road management here. But if you want to steal a car and drive, be my guest." He puts his earphones back in and goes back to looking out over the platforms. According to the electronic board over their heads, their train should be here in a few minutes, but Callum's heard stories about Dutch public transport and their lack of punctuality before. As he sees it, they're the only group on the platform right now with paper tickets. No one else is holding the little printed thing in a language he doesn't speak. He's not even sure how any of this works, considering public transport is different in every country. In Italy, you pay for a specific seat on a specific train, but considering they only had to enter their destination and not when they were taking a train, that didn't seem to be the case here. There's no stamp machine either, like he's seen on Italian platforms where it stamps the date and time at the top of your ticket before you get on. 

He supposes they could've asked at the information booth near the ticket machines, but really - how hard can it be to just take a train? And why is he the only one mildly stressed about it? Marcus is still studying the trains, Mick has taken a seat on his suitcase and appears to be watching Netflix on his phone, Robert is trying his best to read all the signs and occasionally mutters a word to himself and Giuliano has zoned out. Guanyu and Christian are travelling with them as well, as they'd come in on the same flights and nothing had been arranged for them. 

Callum looks at the electronic board again, unfamiliar words in an unfamiliar language, and suddenly realises none of the locations are Zandvoort. He smacks Giuliano on the shoulder to get his attention, since he's the only one in Callum's vicinity who probably bothered to read the email. "Why does none of that say Zandvoort?"

"Because there's no direct train from here to Zandvoort," Giuliano answers calmly. "We have to switch somewhere in Amsterdam." Okay, fine, that calms his nerves a bit. He tries to pull up the email on his phone, but since Schiphol Airport station is underground, his mobile data isn't working and he gives up on that pretty fast. 

The train pulling up, thankfully, is not yellow but white and blue. It also presents a new problem none of them had foreseen - they're all lugging big suitcases and helmet bags. They make quite the spectacle piling into the train and it takes some organising, but eventually they all find a seat. They're spread out across the carriage to find space for their suitcases, as they don't fit in the overhead racks, and Callum's somehow ended up next to Christian and across from Marcus. "Soooo," Christian says. "Public transport, huh? Couldn't the FDA afford a car?" Marcus attempts to kick him but only gets his own suitcase instead. 

"I could say the same about the RSA," Callum responds and Christian shrugs.

"I don't mind public transport that much. Just wish I knew where I was going, or even just to be able to read the signs."

"If it's any comfort," Marcus says, "none of us can read anything here either. And I think the other three were the only ones to read the email we were sent with instructions." Callum has to agree, Robert, Mick and Giuliano are definitely the types to read their emails and actually remember the instructions. 

"So how long are we on this train for?" Christian asks curiously, peering at yet another electronic board with locations and arrival times on it. 

"I think Giuliano said something about layover in Amsterdam," Callum remembers.

"Yes, that's nice, but Amsterdam has a lot of stations." Marcus turns around in his seat to look at the board as well and they all see the same thing - the next 3 stations are all Amsterdam. "Which one was it?"

"Uh," Callum says intelligently. "I don't know." And he doesn't see Giuliano either, or Mick or Robert or Guanyu, for that matter. "Did we stop already?"

"Yeah, a couple minutes ago," Marcus says. "Why?"

"Because I don't see any of the others and I think we missed our stop." The panic is really starting to set in now, and Callum has never despised public transport more than he does at this moment.

Christian doesn't seem bothered in the least. "We'll get out at Amsterdam central, find someone who speaks English and we'll figure it out." How is he so calm? Callum has no idea, but he's a little jealous of it. Marcus seems a little uneasy as well. "I can't believe I'm the only one here who hasn't received instructions on how to get to the track and yet I'm having to be the adult," Christian complains.

"Adult?" Marcus and Callum say in unison, offended, and it makes all three of them chuckle.

Callum just pulls up the email they received as the train stops at and then leaves another station. "Shit, we were supposed to get off at the previous stop," he says as the train picks up speed and leaves said stop behind. 

"Oh, that's just great," Marcus says, sliding down in his seat a little further. "Can we even get to Zandvoort from Amsterdam central station?" 

Callum shrugs. "No clue, the email doesn't say. We'll ask someone when we get off."

Christian looks between the two of them with a look of disbelief on his face. "You know we're supposed to be doing the track walk in about-" he checks his watch, "three hours, right?"

Callum chuckles. "Yeah, you two do. I'm fine, Virtuosi usually does track walks in the evening anyway." That earns him two identical nasty looks from Christian and Marcus. "It's fine, it's not like it's on the other side of the country. We'll be there on time."

Marcus doesn't seem convinced, Callum can tell. He can also tell that Marcus is starting to lose his cool. As much as he says he's always late, he's never actually late for anything. It's bad form and they all know it, especially in a sport that has so much to do with time and being fast. Marcus just stares out the window and Callum nudges his leg with his foot, gently, just once. He knows it's landed when Marcus relaxes and lets his shoulders drop. Good. Now if only Callum could settle down himself as well. 

It's not too long before the train stops at Amsterdam central station and they haul their suitcases off. "Okay," Callum says, taking charge. Christian and Marcus both look extremely lost. "Let's go find some more electronic boards with departures." He follows the exit signs, not knowing where he's going, but he must look like he does because Christian and Marcus follow him without question. In all honesty, it's not even the biggest station he's ever seen but the way it's set up with platforms upstairs and needing to go downstairs to find the boards first is very confusing. 

"Zandvoort!" Marcus shouts behind him, pointing at another platform. It does say Zandvoort on the board and Callum checks the time. It's leaving in 5 minutes. 

"Okay, let's go," he says and they try to rush up the stairs with big suitcases. It's quite a workout and he's ashamed to admit he's out of breath by the time they're finally up the stairs with the suitcases. Just as they're piling into the train that was already waiting for them, Callum receives an incoming call from Giuliano. He waits until they're seated and then calls him back. 

"Where are you guys at?" a very confused Giuliano asks. "We got off at Zandvoort ages ago."

"We may have forgotten to get off at the right station so we ended up at Amsterdam central station," Callum replies. He hears laughter in the background, presumably Guanyu. Little shit. 

"Any chance you'll be arriving today or should I warn the team you're lost somewhere in the Netherlands?" Guanyu's voice says. 

"We're on our way, it's about half an hour, I think." More laughter. He hangs up without another word, slightly insulted. Ah well, they'll get there eventually. Marcus and Christian both look significantly more at ease knowing they'll arrive at their destination within 30 minutes. It feels like being out with his sister, except Marcus and Christian are not 9 years old and should very much be able to do this by themselves. He doesn't mind too much.


End file.
